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ActivityActivity dateActivity description
Down river paddling 2022-08-09 With Nigel H in the inflatable Sea Eagle. Down against some tide and sea breeze to Bull Hill Bank. Then a lovely drift back with the tide and wind. Thanks to Derek H for the drone pics!
Up to buoy 45 2017-08-19 Quite a "feisty" sail as the weather did pretty much what was forecast - which was F4 gusting F5. They were fairly big gusts on the way out. Ran aground near the Turf Locks - whoops - and mutinous crew made the captain get out and push us off.
Pole Sands paddling 2024-02-27 Down to the Pole Sands for lunch. Going to have to be renamed The Pole Pebbles - it is much more pebbley this year.
Xmas day bike ride 2016-12-25 A ride with Liz into Exeter and back. Lots of kids on the cycle path with shiny new Xmas present bikes.
Beach cafe sail 2017-04-15 Down from SYC to the beach cafe at Exmouth. Two very different forecasts - this time the Met Office was right and it was F4 with gusts to the top of F5. Wind was from the NNW so an easy sail with a couple of gybes on the way down. A lot of tacking on the way back but a really great sail for the Wayfarer with one reef in. A max speed of 9.5 knots isnt bad for an old Wayfarer - OK there might have been a little tidal assist at that point! One day, we'll make 10 knots.
Channel Islands - Alderney to Exe 2012-06-06 The return sail from Braye Harbour Alderney to the Exe Estuary. The second half of the sail was very breezy as we sailed across in a gap between two lows. Unfortuantely only the 2nd half of the track was saved on the GPS.
Exe estuary drift 2012-06-17 Downstream against the incoming tide. Over on the Lympstone side for a change as there was some water. Got about as far as the Duck Pond before the tide started to change.
A perfect summers sail 2012-07-22 With the first spell of decent weather this summer the dinghy cruise down to the Beach Cafe and back had an excellent F3 southerly sea breeze and lots of sunshine. Marvellous. All the best photos courtesy of Lizs brother Julian.
Exe paddling 2022-08-06 Ended up being a tour (past) most of the Exe estuary sailing clubs. So past Exe Sailing Club and Lympstone Sailing Club. Stopped at Starcross Yacht Club for lunch and then back past Starcross Fishing and Cruising Club. Would only have had to go past Topsham Sailing Club to get the "full set". Watched a little of the Solo and Laser Opens at SYC.
Work cycle ride 2017-08-01 Into Exeter and back
Exeter and back 2017-03-10 Into Exeter and back. Average speed not too bad given that there was quite a strong headwind on the way back.
Xmas eve ride 2016-12-24 Into Exeter and back. First solo ride for a couple of week and the slightly higher speeds made it hard work!
Cycle ride to work 2017-04-25 First cycle ride to work in many years. Strong headwind on the way there (white horses on the estuary) but tail wind on the way back. Not easy though on the way back as I hadn't eaten in the 5 hours before ride. Need to plan that a bit better!
Meandering on Exe Estuary 2012-09-09 Some gusts but mostly lulls on short Wayfarer sail
Down river dinghy cruise 2012-09-15 Down to the beach cafe and back. Very light winds most of the time but the sun was shining.
Autumn estuary sail 2012-10-06 An end of summer sail down to the beach cafe and back. Fairly light and variable winds. Six SYC boats.
Pole Sands Paddling 2023-04-07 First time out in the inflatable kayak this year. A lovely day and a lovely paddle for lunch in the Pole Sands and then a little explore round the far side of the Pole Sands.
Tags: Exe
Lympstone and back 2017-07-31 Round to Lympstone and back (via the Turf Locks again).
Lympstone and back 2017-03-06 Round to Lympstone with Liz. Liz impressed with the new Aldi at Topsham and less impressed with the rain on the way back. Took some photos of a well preserved old fishing boat in the Turf Lock - later spotted heading off towards Lyme Regis way.
Up river paddling 2023-08-24 Up river loop via The Turf, the Clyst and Lympstone.
Up river to the Turf 2013-04-28 Only the 2nd dinghy sail of the year. Up river as far as the Turf in a nice gentle breeze
Gusty estuary sailing 2013-05-04 A sail in the Wayfarer with Derek H. The wind was very gusty and very shifty. Made for an interesting sail even though we only went back and forth across the estuary
Exe Estuary dawdle 2013-05-12 Not quite the F4 gusting F5 that was forecast. That and the fact we managed to get the furling line wrapped round the head sail furling drum means that we didnt go very far.
Morning dog walk 2021-08-10 Checking out new battery in Montana 600 GPS. Old one was about 7-8 years old and had probably done 500-600 recharges so can't complain too much.
Exmouth and back 2017-07-30 Round to Exmouth and back. Stopped at the Turf Locks for a pint on the way back. And then another pint when Gerry H appeared. Quite a strong wind but mostly on the side until it moved to being dead on the nose after leaving the pub! The birds in the photos were by the Turf Locks. I thought they only "grouped up" like this just before they headed south for the winter and it's too early for that...
Exeter and back 2017-03-04 A gentle wide into Exeter and back with Liz.
Work cycle ride 2017-09-28 Windy and slow on the way back
Lympstone and back 2016-11-05 A windy ride round to Lympstone and back. Back on the Marin after its trip to the LBS for a new rear wheel. Not a happy bike - gear change was really sloppy, the chain came off and the rear brake rubbed. No wonder it all felt such hard work. Stopped at the Swing Bridges to watch them open to let yachts up to the canal basin.
Liz and Jill go large 2013-06-14 Too much talking too much wind and too much carrot cake to make for a respectable average speed but not bad on the distance front. Next week the girls will be cycling to Exmouth and back apparently.
Exe estuary dinghy sail 2013-06-29 A nice sail on the Exe in maybe a F3 to F4 on the day of the Hurricane and Dart opens. Imploded trailer tyre cut short the time available for sailing a little bit,
Liz, Jill and Ben stroke Agas 2013-07-05 Liz, Jill and Ben cycle to Darts Farm and lust after the Aga cookers. Jills son probably not so impressed. Back via Topsham. Average speed severely affected by taking GPS with them when Aga stroking. Rather unbelievable max speed generated when Liz heads towards the till mistakenly believing she can actually aford an Aga.
Exe Estuary Meandering 2021-07-21 With Nigel H on his Dart 18 avoiding the heatwave. Just enough wind for a cooling breeze.
Round to Lympstone 2017-08-20 Round to Lympstone and back with Liz. The remnants of a lurgy for Liz and the headwinds on the way back contributed to the single figure average speed!
Exeter and back 2017-04-14 Wanted a nice gentle ride as it was the first time back on the bike in three weeks - a camper van trip and a slow to end lurgie having got in the way. And a nice gentle ride with Liz it was.
Exeter and back 2018-02-16 Into Exeter and back with Liz. Straight into a headwind on the way home.
Another 100 mile week 2016-10-28 Exeter and back - bringing up the 100 miles for the week. For much of the ride, the smoke from the large fire from the buildings surrounding Cathedral Green was visible. Very sad.
Post work paddle 2013-07-17 A paddle down the Exe Estuary and along the Pole Sands with Nigel after work. A lovely sunny evening in the middle of the heat wave. Photos by Liz from a distance!
Sunday evening sail 2013-07-21 That rare occurrence - plenty of water, plenty of wind and plenty of sun. A lovely evening sail on the Exe Estuary.
Drew Trophy race from Exe to Brixham 2013-07-27 A very slow cruise from the Exe to Brixham for the SYC Drew Trophy race. Came 2nd! Partly due to some boats giving up and motoring due to lack of wind. The photos show the flat as a millpond sea at the start of the race.
Tags: Exe
Turf Paddle 2023-04-13 The westerly F3 gusting F4 turned out to be a F5 on the nose from the north on the way out. Complete with little white horses, I was tempted to turn back as I was making little over half a knot. Calmed down after a while and then lovely paddle up to the Turf for lunch moored up to a buoy.
Tags: Exe
A drift and a sail to TSC 2017-07-15 Light westerly winds and little tide so we sailed and drifted towards Topsham Sailing Club. Ran out of wind just before TSC. Sitting having coffee at SYC afterwards and we spotted a yacht where it shouldn't have been. Alan W's yacht had broken its moorings and was drifting down past buoy 29. There was already a safety boat moored up to the slipway so we took that and returned the yacht to a mooring. Can't believe we did 5.9 knots at any point today (but that would mean my code is wrong so maybe we did!!!!!!).
Exeter and back 2017-12-09 Into Exeter and back. Just got bike back from a big service by Jon S. Combination of a freshly serviced bike and not much wind made the moving average a bit better than some other recent rides.
Exeter and back 2016-12-17 First ride in a fortnight - work and the weather put paid to the previous weekend.
To St Davids and back 2016-10-27 Slightly longer cycle ride today to make up for doing the last 2.5 miles yesterday by car (due to having broken three spokes on the rear wheel). So it was on the "spare bike" today which I hadn't ridden in about a decade. That's a Ridgeback Genesis Day 2. I stopped riding it as the estuary path used to be too rough for it. With the new cycle way its an ideal bike. At maybe a couple of stone lighter than the normal bike (with its panniers etc) and with no breeze at all, it felt like cheating. Keeping up with Liz was much easier than the last couple of time!
Paddle round Pole Sands 2013-10-06 A paddle from Cockwood, out of the estuary and round the Pole Sands. There were even some little waves at times.
Start of holiday Scooby walk 2014-01-11 Scoobys first walk of our winter holiay
Cycle ride and SYC 2014-01-26 A basic cycle ride to the A379 and back again with a stop at the sailing club to watch the death and destruction. Some very big gusts of wind going through led to a few capsizes.
Return to the Exe 2020-05-15 First time back on the Exe Estuary after many, many months. First trip out on our new inflatable kayak - a Sea Eagle 465 FastTrack. Overall - very pleased with it.
Bike ride into Exeter 2017-07-02 A leisurely bike ride into Exeter with Liz. Liz's first time on the bike in a while. Combine that with hundreds of ISCA Academy 10 year olds vying to see which one of them could throw themselves under Liz's front wheel first, and the average speed makes more sense. Stopped at SYC on the way back.
Exeter and back - quite fast 2017-02-18 A very fast (for me) ride out to Exeter (averaged 16.2mph - would have been faster but for the hordes of pedestrians on the last couple of miles) and a somewhat slower ride back into quite a strong head wind. Stopped briefly at SYC to watch the dinghy instructor pre-prep course. Fastest overall average I've managed on the 20 miles "Exeter and back" ride. First time averaging over 14 mph!
Exeter and back 2016-12-05 To the Mill On The Exe and back
Exeter and back 2016-11-26 Another twenty miler into Exeter and back.
First beach cafe sail of the year. 2014-05-03 A lovely F3 south easterly for a sail down to the Exmouth Beach Cafe and back again
Sunny beach cafe safety boat duty 2014-05-17 A lovely sunny May sail down to the beach cafe and back. Light winds but just enough.
Push The Boat Out at SYC 2014-05-26 SYC's "Push The Boat Out" day to offer people a taster of dinghy sailing. A very successful day - about 70 people got to try sailing and the winds were an ideal F2 to F3. Liz got to try helming a Topper on dry land!
Scooby's last summer holiday walk 2019-09-23 Your activity description here
Safety boat at SYC 2017-06-24 Safety boat for SYC dinghy cruise. Nearly an out to sea cruise but it was a little lumpy just out towards the fairway buoy.
Exeter and back 2017-02-06 Super fast on the way out. A bit slower on the way back. The last five miles were into a fairly strong headwind right on the nose. That and pouring rain and the cold put a slight damper on the last quarter!
Exeter and back 2017-01-05 Quite fast on the way out but a bit of a head wind on the way back slowed things down a bit overall.
Sail on Nigel's Dart 2014-08-18 A decent wind (gusting maybe F5) for a storming sail on Nigel's Dart. Some excellent speeds with a top speed of over 17 knots - probably the fastest I've been under sail. Top stuff
Up river - twice 2014-08-31 A lovely sunny day. Wayfarer sail up river and then up river again. Winds got a bit light going up the Exe towards Topsham and the Clyst so just sailed round and round.
Bart's Bash 2014-09-21 After ten year's sailing at Starcross Yacht Club we've completed our first ever dinghy race (we did start one about five year's ago but got bored half way through and sailed off up-river). This race was in memory of Bart Simpson who died in America's Cup practice last year and to raise funds for his sailing academy. Amazingly we weren't last - but pretty close. On the plus side, 68 boats in the water and we didn't hit one of them!
Kayaks and canoes with Jacqui and Carol 2023-06-03 A lovely June day, bottom of the tide paddle down the estuary with the Canadian canoe and the inflatable kayak. A top picnic lunch and then across the estuary to Lympstone in the inflatable and the Triumph single seater kayak.
Work cycle ride 2017-08-22 Windy on the way back - hard work. The wind was against and small white horses were starting to develop on the estuary. Not a good combination for the ride home.
Clyst paddling 2023-08-26 A paddle with Marija and Jeremy L up the Clyst as far as the Bridge Inn at Topsham. Quite neapy so not a lot of water at the mouth of the Clyst (even near the top of the tide). Wind was probably the F3 gusting F5 advertised so some good exercise!
Work bike ride 2017-04-28 Into work and back.
First SYC dinghy cruise of 2015 2015-04-25 An upriver dinghy cruise to start the 2015 season of SYC organised dinghy cruises. Pleasant wind - maybe F3
Back from Brixham to the Exe 2015-07-19 A slowish sail back from Brixham to the Exe after the Drew Trophy Race. Wind was up and down a bit from 5 knots to 15 knots but mostly around about 8 knots. Sailed past the practise race for the 2015 Wayfarer nationals being sailed out of Brixham Yacht Club. Only 7 boats of the water??? Managed to sail the whole way - whenever we threatened to put the motor on, the wind picked up a bit. Very nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon listenening to Genesis and Pink Floyd on the boat cockpit speakers with the sun out.
Tags: Exe
SYC beach cafe sail 2015-08-01 We haven't been out on the Wayfarer for quite a while. That sounds bad given that it's the height of summer but a quick check shows that I've actually sailed over 490 nautical miles since our last Wayfarer trip so I haven't exactly given up sailing! A breezy sail down to the beach cafe - we put in a reef for the way back which wasn't too cowardly as there were a couple of capsizes on the way back. Big tides which is the main reason for the quite fast average speed.
Tags: Exe
Pole Sands Paddling 2019-06-22 Out to the Pole Sands in the canoe with Scooby.
Exeter and back 2017-06-12 Quite hard work as I hadn't been on the bike for the last three weeks and there was a bit of a head wind on the way out.
Exeter and back 2017-04-24 A fairly gentle ride into Exeter and back. Had the Marin loaded up with a pannier and computer bag as though I was going to cycle into work. After a bit of adjustment it all seemed to work ok.
Beach cafe sail 2018-05-19 SYC dinghy cruise to the beach cafe. Great winds and plenty of sun! Heading towards Springs so plenty of tide so quite a fast speed over the ground going past the Warren.
October dinghy cruise 2015-10-10 An iffy weather forecast (F4 gusting F5 with occasional F6) didn't tie up with the conditions at the start time so we went out with one reef. In the end, it turned out to be a lovely sail.
Beach cafe dinghy cruise 2015-10-17 A mid October dinghy cruise to the beach cafe. Winds of mid F4 forecast but mostly a bit lower than that. Broke the tiller extension universal joint which made sailing back a bit different to usual.
First dinghy sail of 2016 2016-04-02 Weather forecast was for F5 gusting F6 and that was about right when we got to SYC. As this was the first dinghy cruise of the year, it was cancelled and replaced with a sail near the club. Put lots of reefs in so the crew didn't mutiny and then banged about across the estuary and back a few times. Turned out to be a fun sail.
Exe Regatta canoeing 2019-06-09 A paddle from Generals Lane slipway in Starcross up to the Turf. Stopped at SYC on the way back to watch some of the Exe Regatta and to let the tide get a bit stronger to help us back against the wind.
Dawlish and Exeter 2017-12-18 Into Dawlish with Liz to pay a bill and then up to Lutzy's on Exeter Quay. A lovely sunny winter's day with next to no wind. Liz says "bad back and snotty nose" the reason for the slightly low average speed.
Floods, a puncture and a disputed cupcake 2018-03-04 Post snow flooding on the Exe cycle path meant a bunch of walking. Liz didn't want the gorgeous Lutzy's cupcake bought for her so it was half each - the first "snack" this year! Then a blowout on the way home on Lizzie's rear tyre. Not helped by the poxy pump we had with us only being able to half inflate the tyre. A trip to the LBS tomorrow for a replacement.
Another twenty miles 2016-10-20 Third day in a row of cycling into Exeter and back. Every day is getting harder - surely that's not right! A couple of "reading breaks" on the way back.
Squires Cup Safety Boat 2016-06-12 Safety boat for the Squires Cup racing for dinghies and cats on the Exe Estuary. Not a lot of wind so not much call for our services. Some rain at times.
Up river dinghy cruise 2016-07-02 An up river dinghy cruise. The weather forecast was about right with its F4 gusting F5. The "fleet" got spread out quite a bit and, as the weather wasn't great, we headed back to the club quite early. The camera was on the wrong settings when the photos were taken so they've been over HDR'd to see if they can be made slightly interesting.
SYC Mystery Dinghy Cruise 2016-07-13 "Officer Of The Day" for the SYC "mystery dinghy cruise". What the mystery was to be was, er, a mystery to us. So we decided that it would be cricket and drinkies on the Bull Sands in the middle of the Exe Estuary at low water. F4 gusting F5 a fair bit of the time but it seems a good time was had by all.
River Clyst paddling 2023-06-09 Up the river Clyst for a couple of miles and then back via Topsham. There was still more navigable water to be explored on the Clyst but left that for next time.
Work cycle ride 2017-05-23 Into work and back. Not much wind which made it a bit easier.
Darts Farm and back 2017-01-07 Off to Darts Fram to hire a tandem for Liz's birthday next week. Liz bought a leek! Average speed distorted by the time spent shuffling round Darts Farm while Liz looked for other stuff to buy.
Exeter and back 2016-11-27 Liz's first time back on the bike at the tail end of a two week lurgy.
Summer Sail 2016-07-30 Went up river to about the Goat Walk and then back again. Liz did some helming for about the 3rd time in the 10 years we've been sailing on the Exe. Then some on water reefing practice and then back to SYC for the "Commodore's BBQ".
Jim Vallis Cruise 2016-08-06 The first Jim Vallis Memorial Cruise. A dinghy cruise in memory of our friend Jim Vallis who started up the organised dinghy cruises at SYC. A lovely sunny day with the wind varying between nothing and about force 5 - but with no big gusts so very sailable. Joined at SYC by many from Jim's family and Sandra joined us on our Wayfarer for a sail.
Free Sailing Safety Boat 2016-08-13 Doing safety boat for a Free Sailing at SYC on a lovely summer's afternoon. A pleasant F3 with the occasional gust made for almost ideal sailing conditions with just a few things to keep us slightly busy. A surprising overall distance as we spent the first 15 minutes at anchor (and expected to remain there for much of the afternoon!)
Exe to Dartmouth 2018-06-16 With the SYC Newport Trophy cancelled due to the possibility of a Force 6, we set of with Peter S for company hoping to get as far as Salcombe. However, with the wind pretty much on the nose, progress was a little slow for us so we motor sailed. As we crossed Torbay we saw the annual Brixham Trawler Race taking place. The weather forecast was pretty much right (with maximum gusts of about 26 knots - F6), so we gave up on the idea of rounding Start Point and ducked into Darthaven Marina in Dartmouth.
Tags: Exe
Work cycle ride 2017-09-26 First time back on the bike after two week summer hols - hard work.
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